Japanese Men Refusing to Leave their Rooms

Off Topic
421

[quote]Varqanir wrote:

What I found over the next two decades, after having gained a fluency in the language, and a facility with the cultural nuances, and having spent a lot of time with a wide variety of people, from business men to graphic designers, from long-haired rock and rollers to tattooed yakuza thugs, from jieitai officers to surfers, hippies, and the PTA, is that you just can’t say that “Japanese people are (blank)” any more than you can say that Americans are (blank). Although there is a lot more racial homogeneity in Japan than in the US, it is not culturally or societally homogeneous at all.
[/quote]

kore kore!

Varq is completely right. I think westerners feel a need to categorize and define “Japan” or “Japanese people” to help them understand things which are…foreign to them. God forbid it has less to do with the person being Japanese and more of the person’s individual personality. Then many foreigners also end up creating a mental “us and them” construct, which makes it impossible to integrate to a deeper level.

I haven’t read the twenty pages of masturbation here but if you guys ever wanna do a get together for drinks in Tokyo (or Chiba, Kanagawa…commutable areas) and don’t mind a relatively young guy ruining your nostalgia conversation please PM me and I would love to join :slight_smile:

422

Cortes, are you listening? You must teach your sons to say, with fierce pride, whether to adults or other children, “boku ha hafu ja nai yo, haiburiddo da yo!”

Or however you say that in Yamaguchi-ben. :stuck_out_tongue:

425

basically if I can extrapolate on this, Men hide in their rooms, women dont approach the men who dont hide. So as long as being white isnt a cultural turn off then Id be golden neh? Approach all the womenz.

also didnt read all 16 pages if someone else managed to think of this brilliant plan as well.

426

[quote]Chushin wrote:

[quote]Gambit_Lost wrote:

The laws regarding multi-national marriage child abduction are WTF type stuff (like when a Japanese woman marries a Canadian and then “steals” the kids and moves back to Japan)

[/quote]

Just changed; Japan is now a signatory to the international treaty on this. [/quote]

Really? I know they were talking about it in '11 or so, but I figured it’d never happen… has a case been brought up yet?

…I’ve got to look into this. I know there were tons of cases “just waiting”…I figured the day would never really come.

427

[quote]Varqanir wrote:

[quote]Chushin wrote:

You should have felt the culture shock going back after living here when then were no: fax machines / cell phones / bilingual broadcasts / computers / Skype services.

That’s back when Japan was a foreign country.

(Cue Cortes joke about how old I am.)

But seriously, you kids have no idea just how different it used to be here as compared to the West.[/quote]

I first went to Japan in 1989. I remember.

At the time the university thought it was going to have trouble finding a host family for me, because I had long hair, and many Japanese were somewhat conservative about such things. I ended up staying with a family in Onomachi, a little suburb of Ichikawa in Chiba prefecture.

My first real “foreign country” moment was when I was running up a flight of steps from the Main Street to the residential area, and I happened upon a large group of junior high school students. Whatever they were noisily discussing at the time was instantly engulfed in a shocked silence, and they all just stared at me as I passed. I heard one girl utter in awe, as if she could scarcely believe it herself, “me ga aoi!” (his eyes are blue!). Over the next two decades I found that the blueness of my eyes had a similar effect on adult women as well, but that’s another story. [/quote]

I got on the bus sometime last year. It wasnt my usual bus ( I was going into work late) and it was crowded with High School kids getting out of school. I generally avoid getting on a bus at that time as I cant stand teenagers.

Anyway, Im on the crowded bus and a group of girls start chatting about me (in Japanese of course, assuming I dont understand) and my very gaijin features.

A - “Look at that guy’s eyes! They are really big.”
B - “Yeah, and his eye lashes are really long!”
A - “I’m so jealous! His face is so small.”

Yes, that is right. They were jealous of my “small face”.

I mentioned the story to some of my students and they were like, “Yeah, you DO have a small face!”

I am now paranoid about the size of my face.

428

[quote]Varqanir wrote:
Cortes, what did you think of Hotaru no Haka?[/quote]

It is a hard movie to watch. My wife put it in again the other day…she seems to need to watch it once/year. You have to be in the right state of mind to watch it though. It always makes me feel like throwing up.

429

Ill just leave this here:

http://m.xojane.com/issues/asian-fetish

430

[quote]Cortes wrote:

[quote]Varqanir wrote:

[quote]Cortes wrote:

I’m saying this as an employer: Then demand for native speakers of English in this country is so great that a high school degree and a bit of savvy are all any citizen of the US, Canada, UK, OZ, NZ or SA need to easily get a job here.

Easily.

And you don’t even need the savvy if you are decent looking. [/quote]

Huh.

Might be time to brush off the old passport.
[/quote]

Need a job?

Not joking.

Still waiting for you to get back to me on that email I sent you. I sent it to the address Chushin gave me, your yahoo acct.
[/quote]

lol, I don’t suppose you have a school in Kanto…lol

431

[quote]Gambit_Lost wrote:

[quote]Varqanir wrote:
Cortes, what did you think of Hotaru no Haka?[/quote]

It is a hard movie to watch. My wife put it in again the other day…she seems to need to watch it once/year. You have to be in the right state of mind to watch it though. It always makes me feel like throwing up. [/quote]

Can’t bring myself to watch it. Just seeing the trailer makes me want to cry.

432

[quote]Cortes wrote:

[quote]ryanbCXG wrote:
Nice blonde hair and blue eyes is a good thing huh…hmmmm

So what can I do with my MD in Japan when I am done?[/quote]

Start your own clinic, make tons of money, and not get to enjoy any of it because you work six days a week with no real vacation ever for the remainder of your life until retirement at 65.

Sound like fun, lol? [/quote]

Hmmm less work and more play would be better

433

[quote]Varqanir wrote:
Cortes, are you listening? You must teach your sons to say, with fierce pride, whether to adults or other children, “boku ha hafu ja nai yo, haiburiddo da yo!”

Or however you say that in Yamaguchi-ben. :stuck_out_tongue:

[/quote]

Yamaguchi-ben dattara, "nani iiyoru? Boku haafu ja nai yo. Haiburiddo da yo. Wakacchoru? "

I actually like double alright. I wish there were an appropriate native Japanese word for “biracial.”

These all look like shit:

*edited typo

434

How do they support themselves other than winning Skyrim tournaments? Not to mention, working 3,000 hours a week is the norm there. Are they not looked down upon because of that

435

[quote]Gambit_Lost wrote:

[quote]Chushin wrote:

[quote]Gambit_Lost wrote:

The laws regarding multi-national marriage child abduction are WTF type stuff (like when a Japanese woman marries a Canadian and then “steals” the kids and moves back to Japan)

[/quote]

Just changed; Japan is now a signatory to the international treaty on this. [/quote]

Really? I know they were talking about it in '11 or so, but I figured it’d never happen… has a case been brought up yet?

…I’ve got to look into this. I know there were tons of cases “just waiting”…I figured the day would never really come.
[/quote]

This is news to me, too. Thank God. If anyone finds any good links about this I’d certainly like to read them.

436

[quote]Gambit_Lost wrote:

[quote]Varqanir wrote:
Cortes, what did you think of Hotaru no Haka?[/quote]

It is a hard movie to watch. My wife put it in again the other day…she seems to need to watch it once/year. You have to be in the right state of mind to watch it though. It always makes me feel like throwing up. [/quote]

I actually just finished it and loved it. I was weeping almost the entire length of the film, but it is just beautiful. Everything that the hateful Dare Mo Shiranai is not. I think I nailed it, in that Dare Mo Shiranai, at least as far as I recall, focused so deeply on the abandonment and the pathos of the situation that I finally felt nothing but what you are describing here, GL: A sick feeling of irredemption (I just made that word up, but it it perfectly appropriate).

Hotaru No Haka, on the other hand, was a celebration of the beauty of life, and love, and used death as a necessary foil so that you could feel just how special that love was. I never felt the movie trying to buy my sympathy for their plight. Takahata respects his audience enough to just show what is and let us decide how we feel about their situation. The moment in the cave where Seita tries to cuddle with his sister and she pushes him away because he was hot and she already sleeping just destroyed me.

Wow. What a great movie. HUGE thanks to Varq. Wow.

437

[quote]Gambit_Lost wrote:

[quote]Cortes wrote:

[quote]Varqanir wrote:

[quote]Cortes wrote:

I’m saying this as an employer: Then demand for native speakers of English in this country is so great that a high school degree and a bit of savvy are all any citizen of the US, Canada, UK, OZ, NZ or SA need to easily get a job here.

Easily.

And you don’t even need the savvy if you are decent looking. [/quote]

Huh.

Might be time to brush off the old passport.
[/quote]

Need a job?

Not joking.

Still waiting for you to get back to me on that email I sent you. I sent it to the address Chushin gave me, your yahoo acct.
[/quote]

lol, I don’t suppose you have a school in Kanto…lol[/quote]

Not yet. (^^)

438

[quote]ryanbCXG wrote:

[quote]Cortes wrote:

[quote]ryanbCXG wrote:
Nice blonde hair and blue eyes is a good thing huh…hmmmm

So what can I do with my MD in Japan when I am done?[/quote]

Start your own clinic, make tons of money, and not get to enjoy any of it because you work six days a week with no real vacation ever for the remainder of your life until retirement at 65.

Sound like fun, lol? [/quote]

Hmmm less work and more play would be better[/quote]

Yeah, the MDs I see here mostly seem like pretty cool guys, but they work CONSTANTLY!!!

I understand MDs in the US do, too, for the most part, but they get a little bit of time to enjoy their Jaguars and heated swimming pools (the latter of which you will also almost certainly not get here…most MD’s clinics ARE their houses. I am not joking).

*edit. Grammar Nazi

439

[quote]Cortes wrote:

[quote]ryanbCXG wrote:

[quote]Cortes wrote:

[quote]ryanbCXG wrote:
Nice blonde hair and blue eyes is a good thing huh…hmmmm

So what can I do with my MD in Japan when I am done?[/quote]

Start your own clinic, make tons of money, and not get to enjoy any of it because you work six days a week with no real vacation ever for the remainder of your life until retirement at 65.

Sound like fun, lol? [/quote]

Hmmm less work and more play would be better[/quote]

Yeah, the MDs I see here mostly seem like pretty cool guys, but they work CONSTANTLY!!!

I understand MDs in the US do, too, for the most part, but they get a little bit of time to enjoy their Jaguars and heated swimming pools (the latter of which you will also almost certainly not get here…most MD’s clinics ARE their houses. I am not joking).

*edit. Grammar Nazi[/quote]

Sounds like the work hours in the US are much more flexible for the most part at least once you get to practice.

I have seen what you talking about the clinics in Japan. I watched a documentary that showed healthcare around the world. Pretty eye opening

440

[quote]Cortes wrote:
My kids are called “half” by everyone and this is somehow perfectly acceptable here. I strongly discourage the use of this word whenever I hear it.

Then, the other day, a new girl joined one of my jr. high classes (15-16 year olds). In conversation, it came up that her great grandmother is Korean, and that she is therefore part Korean (and can speak fluent Korean at the native level, impressively enough). The other kids in class wasted NO time calculating her fractional Korean quotient (1/8) and trying to remember the name for someone who is 7/8 NOT Japanese (which is what all that crap really amounts to).

There was no meanness of any kind involved, they seriously had no concept of how rude and alienating this is. I scolded them roundly and then asked the girl what she thought of it (keep in mind she has been raised as a 100% Japanese). She said the practice did not exactly make her happy, which, coming from a Japanese, contains an altogether far stronger meaning.

Grr…[/quote]

I hate it too. As my father-in-law says, “it’s like saying ‘Jap.’”

[quote]Varqanir wrote:

[quote]Chushin wrote:

[quote]Cortes wrote:
My kids are called “half” by everyone and this is somehow perfectly acceptable here. I strongly discourage the use of this word whenever I hear it.

[/quote]

Agree strongly.

Have you found a good replacement word in Japanese?

I’ve struggled with that, short of saying, “His mom is an American, and …”[/quote]

I humbly offer “haiburiddo”.[/quote]

Never heard of that. I’ve been using “mix” and I’ve heard of a lot of others saying this as well. “double” doesn’t work well and “half” is flat-out offensive.